The third aspect of the Goddess
is that of the Crone. With the exception of Neo-pagan practitioners, Goddess
worshipers and others the Crone has become, or been made to be the most
feared aspect of the Goddess. This is mainly because of the Crone's function
which is death. In primitive and ancient societies this function was called
the mother's curse, and became known as the Crone's curse.

"The purpose of the Crone's curse was to doom the sacrificial victim
inevitably, so no guilt would occur to those who actually shed his lifeblood.
He was already 'dead' once the Mother pronounced his fate, so killing him
was not real killing...The Markandaya Purana said there was nothing anywhere
'that can dispel the curse of those who have been cursed by a mother.'"

This curse alone with its destruction ability is the Destroyer aspect
of the Goddess. The fear of this aspect arises within people of modern societies
because the aspect of the Destroyer has been misrepresented or guised as
sinister. There is nothing sinister about the Crone's curse when fully understood.
Again, the function of the curse dates back to ancient times when women
thought they were the sole propagators of life. When they thought they had
the full authority to produce life, and they thought they had, or were given,
the authority to destroy it.

When comparing this analogy to the Goddess, the Crone's function as destroyer
of life becomes natural rather than sinister. Within her aspects as Virgin
and Mother, the Goddess is the giver or bearer of life and the nourisher
and protector of life. Since life ends, the function of the Crone is natural
and necessary too. In most, if not all, female-oriented religions of nature
there are cyclic patterns ruled by karmic balance. Everything which develops
has a decline. "There could be no dawn without dusk, no spring without
fall, no planting without harvest, no birth without death. The Goddess never
wasted her substance without recycling. Every living form served as nourishment
for other forms. Every blossom fed on organic rot. Everything has its day
in the sun, then gave place to others, which made use of its dying."

The Crone's curse which is often called the doomsday curses or myths
are found in countries as widely separated as India and Scandinavia. The
origins of some of the myths date to prehistoric times. Psychologists claim
deeper meanings lie within these myths than just primitive eschatology.
These meanings are being discovered as belonging to the collective unconsciousness.
"For example, the body and world stand for each other so consistently
in the mythological mode that every tale of doomsday can be seen to allegorize
the terrifying dissolution of the self in death, while every creation demonstrably
presents a buried memory of birth. Both are inextricably entwined with the
image of the Mother."

The Triple Goddess in her three aspects, Virgin, Mother, and Crone, can
be considered a representation of humankind's life cycle: birth, life (or
maturity), and death. This is the natural life cycle. The Neo-pagans, however,
extend this cycle into multiple cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. This
is the reason that most Neo-pagan, especially those in witchcraft, believe
in reincarnation. In rituals such
as Drawing Down the Moon, the high priestess may stand in the pentacle position with her arms and legs outstretched
symbolizing the birth and rebirth cycle. The priestess may take several
stances of this position within the magic circle to emphasize multiple birth
and rebirth cycles.

To the Neo-pagans, as well as many others, the concept of reincarnation
or the birth and rebirth cycle is natural because it is prevalently seen
in nature. One grand example are the annual seasons: in the spring everything
buds to take on new growth; seeds are planted and germinate; flowers and
trees grow and bear fruit in late spring and summer, different crops are
harvested; in the fall other crops are harvested, while dead growth is cut
away and burned off; and then during winter many things seem to die, but
in early spring this cycle begins repeating itself again.

This was the thought concept of the ancient matriarchal and agricultural
cultures. Every facet of life evolved around the yearly seasons. This is
principally why these cultures were worshippers of the Goddess. Their thought
concepts were cyclic like the seasons.

When societies began changing from matriarchal to patriarchal cultures
a different thought concept was produced: a shift from cyclic to linear.
This change principally brought about by two things. The first, as previously
mentioned, was in the thought concept from cyclic to linear. Coinciding
with this was the advancement of the patriarchal religions such as Jainism,Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and
Manichaenism. About this time man begun
thinking of his life in the terms of a straight line; as from birth to death.
Death assumed the concept of the "final end." To some men it meant
extinction or obliteration. Added to this came the Christian concepts of
heaven and hell. Men now almost had given up the cyclic idea of birth and
rebirth, the thought of extinction of their lives seemed intolerable to
them, so it was easy for the eternal life concept of heaven or hell to clasp
hold of them. Once they held these concepts they were in the control of
the Christian Church that made every effort possible to eradicate the Goddess.

Those who have done any study of witchcraft and paganism surely know
the road which the Church took in it's pursuit to destroy the world of the
Goddess. The means used become only too clear at just the mention of the
Inquisition and the witch mania which produced the hunts and burnings. The
ironical part of this whole series of tragic episodes is that the Church
called herself the "Holy Mother Church." Never is it known that
the Goddess needlessly killed her children the way the Church has.

It is suggested that this rejection or annihilation of the Crone has
hidden psychological undertones. Men sought to vanish both the kind of death
that the Crone presented and her control as well. The thought of the Crone
having the control of Atropos the Cutter, the old-woman third of the Greek
trinity of Fates or Moerae, snipping the thread of every life with her inexorable
scissors was intolerable. In a patriarchal world a feminine figure with
such enormous power could not be withstood.

There is a long history of mistreatment and torture of elderly women.
During the 16th century the physician Johann Weyer was strongly reprimanded
for even suggesting that "...executed witches were really harmless
old women who confessed to impossible crimes only because they were driven
mad by unendurable tortures." As a rule such women were in the circumstances
of trying to live along, independent of male or ecclesiastical control,
and being poor.

In 1711 Joseph Addison reported "that when an old woman became dependent
on the charity of the parish she was 'generally turned into a witch' and
legally terminated."

In contrast, in pre-Christian Europe elderly women were in charge of
religious rites at which omens were read for the entire community. In the
Goddess temples of the Middle East and Egypt they were doctors, midwifes,
surgeons, and advisors on health care, bringing up children, and sexuality.
They officiated at ceremonies, were scribes for sacred books and vital records.
They were teachers of the young.

Seldom are elderly women teachers of the young today, in fact, they are
seldom given any consideration at all. Present day societies seldom see
them or want them seen. Emphasis is on youth, beauty and sexuality. The
young woman is the ideal. Society gives the elderly woman her pension chec
while she sits by her television set being contented. Most are because society
and the Church has decreed this an appropriate life style for them. After
65, if not long before most women feel they have served of their lives,
only death awaits them. Many fail to recognize that their minds and bodies
are still growing. Aging is a growth process, if not there would be no adulthood;
becoming elderly is the next step in the process.

Many are eager to lay the total blame of this misguidance of the elderly
women on men. It must be admitted men do share a large part of the guilt;
until recently women have been denied a major part in ecclesiastical life,
in governmental and commercial sections of society as well; but, elderly
women share some of the guilt too, there are those who just sit down accepting
their fate while forgetting they can still think and act.

It has previously been mentioned that we currently live in troubled,
if not, perilous times. Our religious, social and governmental institutions
seem unable to rid us of the dangerous situations which we find ourselves
in. For many it seem time to turn to the Goddess for help. This also may
be true for the elderly, both women and men. As long as people breath the
Crone has not cut that string yet! The time to start is now. How to start
is by reading articles such as this one. Information is a twofold tool:
it is food for the brain--mind food, and it will provide courses of action.

It has been noted that the Western cultures as a whole have not been
prepared for the function of the Crone. This is very true, people tend to
think that death as something which happens to others, not them. They are
used to seeing death depicted and glamorized on the television and movie
screen. This makes it impersonal. This is why so many are unprepared for
death.

And, those who are prepared for death seem to be so in an almost selfish
way. Most think there are only two alternatives after death: heaven or hell.
Heaven is the good place where all want to go. The Churches set down the
rules as how to get there, and most people ritualistically follow them.
One of these rules is that the person should love and help his neighbor
along the path to heaven too, but like the others this rule has became a
ritual too.

An example of this is seen within the current patriarchal religions themselves.
They assume they provide comfort by denying the reality of dying. The ministers
administer the properly prescribed rites, with the gestures, over the dying
person and say the appropriate words, and then leave. The dying person is
then left along, usually dying in a hospital or convalescent home. Seldom
does anyone sit with the person to give comfort, to help them in their sickness
and loneliness. Elderly women used to do this, minister to the sick and
dying, hold and comfort them, lovingly wipe up the blood and mess. Now all
of this is done by professionals. After death the body is shipped off to
the mortuaries. At the funeral family and friends see the body in the most
pleasant condition as possible. The person looks asleep, not dead.

Society has tried to deny death in all possible ways. This is the purpose
of the heaven and hell concepts; the immortal soul lives on for eternity.
This is not a denial of the immortality of the soul. Even many pagans believe
in other planes of life besides the physical one on earth, and in reincarnation.
However, currently many people are attempting to make some sense of an after
life. At a funeral this author heard a Protestant minister say the person's
mission in this life had been accomplished, so God called the person for
better things to do. This would seem to indicate even some Christians are
getting tired of a "do-nothing" heaven.

Many worshipping the Goddess have no fear of death. They realize the
Crone's function is natural in the birth-death-rebirth cycle which they
see throughout nature. To many death is the going home to the embrace of
a loving Grandmother. The mother of the Christian Mother of God, Mary, name
was Anna which comes close to Diana. So, even in Christianity there is also
a grandmother-representation of the Crone.

Many think Christian men prefer the idea of an eternal hell to the thought
of nonexistence. Perhaps they are right. No one knows with certainty, but
with a belief in the birth-death-rebirth cycle one is sure of the type of
life he might look forward to when being born again of the Virgin, and having
a Mother. A.G.H.